Plain language in service info: Check if customers can find, understand and act on rules; Ensure conditions, next steps and outcomes match what the service actually does; Test revisions with real users and verify with service owners
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Reviewing service information for plain language

Review a service page or message for clear action, accurate conditions, familiar words and a next step customers can use.

Desk Experience Governance · · 3 min read

Review service information by asking whether a customer can find the rule that applies, understand it and act on it.

Editing long sentences helps, but the review is incomplete if it drops a condition, leaves the next step vague or makes an accurate message sound like a promise the service cannot keep.

Start with the customer's decision

Choose one piece of information: an eligibility page, a request confirmation or instructions for supplying a document. Write down what the customer needs to decide or do after reading it. Check the current service rule with its owner before editing; wording alone should not settle an uncertain policy.

Read the content in the order a customer encounters it. Is the main action near the start? Do headings describe the information beneath them? Can a reader find the condition that changes their next step?

Australian Government Style Manual guidance recommends everyday words, clear headings, short paragraphs and active voice. Those are useful editing tools, not substitutes for checking whether the service information is correct.

How to review service information for plain language

  1. Choose one piece of informationAn eligibility page, request confirmation or document instructions.
  2. Identify the customer’s decision or actionWrite down what the customer needs to decide or do after reading.
  3. Check with the service ownerConfirm policy accuracy before editing—wording alone shouldn’t settle uncertainty.
  4. Read in customer orderEnsure main action is near the start, headings match content beneath.

Edit for meaning and action

A practical pass can work through four questions:

  1. What is the point?Put the action or outcome first, then explain why or when it applies.
  2. Which words need work?Replace internal terms where an everyday word means the same thing. Explain a necessary technical term on first use.
  3. Which conditions matter?Keep dates, eligibility rules, exceptions and consequences beside the action they qualify.
  4. What happens next?Name what the customer must provide, where to send it and what response they can expect, if those details have been verified.

For example, a draft might say, “Your request has been actioned.” If staff have only received the request, “We received your request. The change has not been made yet” distinguishes receipt from completion. The wording must reflect what the service has actually done.

Review service information for plain language

  • What is the point?Put the action or outcome first, then explain why or when it applies.
  • Which words need work?Replace internal terms with everyday words; explain technical terms on first use.
  • Which conditions matter?Keep dates, eligibility rules, exceptions and consequences beside the action they qualify.
  • What happens next?Name what the customer must provide, where to send it and what response they can expect.

Check the revision with people

Ask people from the intended audience to use the revised information for a realistic decision. Give them the page and a task, then ask what they would do, what they think will happen and where they found the answer.

Note incorrect interpretations as well as hesitation. A favourable comment about the tone does not show that the instruction led to the right action.

Review the revised text again with the service owner. Check that simplification has preserved all material conditions and that linked forms, staff answers and automated messages agree with it. Keep a record of the version tested and any unresolved policy question.

If readers still cannot decide what to do, investigate whether the service rule or process needs changing rather than adding more explanation.

Benefits and risks of simplifying service information

Pros
Improves clarity, helps customers act correctly, reduces errors and support calls.
Cons
Over-simplification may omit critical conditions or misrepresent what the service can do.

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